poner Affirmative Imperative Conjugation
poner — to put
The command for 'tú' is short and irregular: pon.
poner Affirmative Imperative Forms
When to Use the Affirmative Imperative
Use this to give direct orders or instructions to put something somewhere or to turn something on.
Notes on poner in the Affirmative Imperative
The informal 'tú' command is just 'pon'. All other forms (ponga, pongamos, pongan) match the present subjunctive.
Example Sentences
¡Pon el libro en la estantería!
Put the book on the shelf!
tú
Ponga su firma aquí, por favor.
Put your signature here, please.
usted
Pongamos la tele para ver las noticias.
Let's put the TV on to watch the news.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Saying 'pone' for a command.
Correct: pon.
Why: While many verbs use the 3rd person present for commands, poner is one of the 'short' irregular commands.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: pongo
Poner is regular in the present tense, except for the 'yo' form: pongo.
Preterite
yo: puse
The preterite of poner is highly irregular, using the 'pus-' stem: puse, pusiste, puso, pusimos, pusisteis, pusieron.
Imperfect
yo: ponía
Poner is completely regular in the imperfect: ponía, ponías, ponía...
Future
yo: pondré
The future of poner uses the irregular stem 'pondr-': pondré, pondrás, pondrá...
Conditional
yo: pondría
The conditional uses the irregular stem 'pondr-': pondría, pondrías, pondría...
Present Subjunctive
yo: ponga
The present subjunctive of poner follows the 'yo' form: ponga, pongas, ponga...
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: pusiera
The imperfect subjunctive uses the 'pusier-' stem: pusiera, pusieras, pusiera...
Negative Imperative
yo: no pongas
Negative commands use the present subjunctive: no pongas, no ponga, no pongamos...